Dreamworld
by Blue Bongo
Summary: After a night of patrolling Sunnydale, Buffy finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. Unable to break out of her predicament on her own, and therefore unable to protect Sunnydale from Angelus, can her friends help her in time? Set in season two.
1. Chapter 1

Groggy. That's what she was. It wasn't the first time Buffy Summers had ever felt groggy, but it was the first time she had felt it without being sore as well. Normally her feelings of grogginess came hand in hand with being beaten down on by a monster. Or, more aptly as of late, something monstrous she had once loved. Probably still did love in some slight way if she was honest. What they had shared, it couldn't be turned out like a light. She had already tried.

Angelus. Had he been the last thing she had seen before passing out? Could have been. No, wait, that wasn't right. She had seen him, the two of them had done their nightly dance of trading blows and taunts. Well, she had been hitting, he had been taunting, viciously ripping old wounds open the way only Angelus could. The cold voice still danced at her ears, how he spoke with Angel's voice, with Angel's mouth…

Angel was gone. She had to remember that. And how she had ended up here as well actually. She wasn't at home, wasn't in bed snuggled up to Mr. Gordo. To be honest, it looked like she was in a crypt. It was… well, it was crypt-ie, big coffin down in the centre of the room, dusty stone walls and shadows cast aside by the

"That bad as it gets now?" she asked, looking around in bemusement. "I'm sleeping in crypts now, can't even get home? For once, why can't the vamps get done their business by ten pm then I can get some sleep. Tired Buffy, bad slayer."

Predictably, there wasn't an answer. If there had been, she'd have worried. Because things that called out in crypts were usually the things whose asses she had to kick.

What had happened after Angelus had made a play for her? She'd beaten him down, probably would have staked him had she not been momentarily unarmed. By the time she had gotten her weapon back, the stake having been knocked from her grip in the fight, he was back on his feet and just out of her reach.

"Come on, Buff," he had taunted, the faced contorted into his demonic visage. "Not going to put me down that easily. Better slayers than you have tried. And I mean that in so many ways."

He had winked at her, licked his lips before fleeing. She hadn't been able to help but watch him as he did so. It was her duty to chase him, he was a vampire and she was the slayer, but she didn't want to. She hadn't been feeling herself that night; two weeks of late nights stalking Angelus were finally getting to her. Ever since Angel had reverted to the side of evil, it felt like she had spent every moonlit hour out there trying to stop him hurting someone, while also fighting any other forces of darkness that wanted a piece of her. She didn't sleep much at the best of times, what with the combination of patrol and high school. Lethal combination really for her, sometimes it just felt like she should have one or the other, not both.

Did other slayers have to worry about this? I bet not, she thought. Sometimes, I really regret being me. Not often, I admit, but…

That last bit sounded suspiciously like Cordelia. When she was sounding like Cordelia, it was time to worry.

Other slayers probably got the chance to sleep during the day. If I start doing that, where does the line between hunters and hunted exist? How am I different from Angelus? Or Drusilla and Spike?

She needed to get out of here, get home to change and head over to the high school. At least the sleep in the crypt had done her some good, she felt mildly refreshed.

I am never doing this again if I can help it. It's icky and probably dangerous. What if another vampire had tracked me here, caught my scent and snapped my neck while I slept? Mom and Dawn'd be crying right about now, Willow and Xander'd go back to a life without meaning and Giles…

How would the Watcher cope if the worst came to the worst? She didn't want to think about it.

Coffee. She needed some. A pep up sounded good right about now. It didn't take long for her to stride across the crypt, a hand resting on the door handle.

"Hello sunlight," she muttered, pushing it gently. It didn't give. Panic immediately gripped her, what if she was locked in here? She didn't like small dark spaces; they frightened the bejesus out of her, more than the things that she fought on a night to night basis.

Come on, Buffy, you can do this.

Deep breath and she pushed again, applying all that slayer strength to the door. This time, it gave slightly, the crack between the heavy metal door and the stone wall splitting ever so slightly.

It was like listening to the sound of the ocean in a sea shell when you hold it to your ear, how it comes straight back to you.

That really worried her. Whatever else might happen in it at any random time, Sunnydale Cemetery wasn't supposed to sound like that. Another deep breath and she pushed harder, her muscles tensed to the max as she really shoved the door, determined to get it open.

This was the only exit to the small room. And, as the door flung open, slamming against the outside wall of the crypt, she couldn't help but let out a scream of terror at what lay waiting for her.

Outside wasn't Sunnydale Cemetery. It wasn't like anything she had ever seen before; it was a howling abyss, all wild and empty, a howling wind screeching through the space, nothing as far as the eye could see but darkness and sound. A sound so powerful and disheartening she almost could see it. Far ahead of her, a bolt of lightning erupted through the sky, lighting up the area ahead of the slayer in an almost beautiful illumination of light and sound.

All it did was heighten the feeling of worry that had been steadily growing within her stomach since she had woken up in this crypt. Against her better judgement, she reached out into the void, her hand scrabbling out to try and find the door handle. Her nails dug into the thin cracks in the metal, the sound from the abyss assaulting her continuously. She was stood half out over it now, stretching up onto her toes to try and find just enough to pull the door shut. She wanted it out of her face, out of her mind.

The latter might be tricky, but the former was possible. All she had to do was reach out and shut… the door.

A lone finger closed around the ring-shaped handle, a lifeline. Only the very tips of her toes were on completely solid ground, the entire weight of her body balanced on them.

Had it not been for the slayer grace, she'd have probably fallen by now. Just don't look down, Buffy, she thought as she slowly managed to pull the door towards her, it slowly coming towards her, inch by inch.

She looked down. She couldn't help it, just as the second scream of terror at the whirlpool-like energy vortex below her. It could be millions of miles away from her, it could be twenty feet. Whatever it was, however far it was from her, she could see straight down into it. She could see bolt blue plasma sweeping around in the ever-moving cyclone of energy, snapping up to form dragon heads within the body of the whirlpool.

Somehow, she'd kept hold of the door in that time. And, with renewed terror came vigour, she yanked it back as hard as she could, just wanting to block the abyss out from her, keep it away.

The door slammed shut, she fell away from it and landed on her back in a heap, dust thrown up by her falling body. She was shut back in the crypt, but at least she wasn't confronted by that horrible desperate abyss any longer.

But she was trapped. And alone. A quick glance around the crypt confirmed both things to her, there wasn't another way out.

Yet, just as the idea of being alone was starting to hit her, she heard something.

"That's right! There's no escape, Slayer!"

The voice hadn't come from anywhere in particular; it felt like it had sprang up from all around her, whatever was speaking being so close yet so far away.

"Hello?" she called, using what she thought of as her slayer tone. "Is someone there?"

What came next wasn't so much a reply but more a sinister threat. Normally she ignored threats of the sinister variety but this one was something she couldn't help but take notice of.

"A little longer," the voice chuckled. "And soon you'll be mine. Your power will be my weapon against the world. Toodles, Slayer."

And then it was silent. Still laid on her back, she got to her feet, giving the crypt another quick once over.

There really was no way out.

"Crap!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**Hope that you enjoyed that, anyway. Just started writing it to get the creative juices flowing and a story has somehow escalated from it.**

**So, yeah, I'll keep trying to update it. Just been watching some repeats of Buffy lately for the first time in like three years, so possibly one of the reasons why I might stick with it for the first time. Really been enjoying it lately.**

**But, yeah, set in Season 2, roughly between Phases and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. Just in case you were wondering.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Giles was worried. Not that he'd admit it out loud in public, not unless there was actually something to be worried about. Like the Master. Like Spike and Drusilla. Like Angelus and the Judge. Those were things to be worried about, not a bad feeling deep in his stomach.

But he did worry about Buffy. She was his slayer; it was his job to worry about her. Every morning he awoke, wondering if she'd survived through the night. Especially in the dangerous times Sunnydale found themselves in, three old and powerful vampires stalking the streets of night.

There wasn't anything that he could do, just wait for her to report in, go about her day and then send her back out again tonight.

It wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Already his third cup of tea of the day was steaming away in his office, waiting to be drunk while a copy of the Sunnydale News waited next to it. It was still early, not even 9 AM yet. Most of the students weren't in school yet. He wondered if Buffy had come in yet, or if she was still on her way in.

There wasn't any point in worrying about her. She was either okay or she wasn't, it made no difference now. Instead, he tried to focus on the morning paper.

Sunnydale journalism just wasn't up there with the best of British in the same field. The exact headline on the front page was something about a mass outbreak of dead, mutilated cats in Sunnydale next to a picture of the street where they kept showing up.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, opening the next page. "That all that's going on?"

He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised. Corpses with unexplained neck wounds were practically common-place in this town. If the journalism was devoted to them all, there'd never be anything else in the papers.

Pausing for a moment, he took a sip of the tea, savouring the hot liquid before swallowing it.

Somehow, he got the impression it was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Most of his morning had gone smoothly; the only problem had come when a gothic looking teenage girl had come in asking about a few books. Two of them had been innocent enough; the third one was something he knew to be entirely unsuitable, a book on raising emotion demons. He had looked at her, trying to sound innocent to the facts and wondered aloud why she thought he had it in here.<p>

"'Cause, dude, you got tons of books like that," she had replied. "I mean, that's the point of a library, right?"

He had been forced to concede that point, but had tried to emphasise the point that it had been delivered here by mistake and he was waiting for someone to reclaim them. And, they were in no means to be rented out.

She had given him a dirty look and then left. That he could live with; most students here did give him strange looks.

Presumably, he thought, it was the fact he was from another country.

That had been the only incident though, and now he was back with the paper, enjoying more possibly exaggerated tales of death and destruction.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Giles!"<p>

He looked up from the newspaper, seeing Willow and Xander coming into the library, both of them moving out towards him.

"Good morning," he said. "How is everything today?"

"How's it going G-Man," said Xander, already leaning against one of the walls, hands in pockets. "See the Buffster anywhere today? She didn't show up for first two periods."

"What?"

The watcher was already on his feet, pacing up and down the library. "That's… worrying."

"Worrying?" Willow exclaimed. "Giles, she could be dead! She could be laid in a pool of her own blood in wherever she was last night."

"Or, she could be out sick, Will," Xander said, unbelievably laid back. "Slayers get sick, right?"

"That's right, Xander," the watcher replied. "And we all appreciate your efforts to look on the bright side of things."

"Always my plan," Xander said. "So, we worried that Buffy didn't come into school today?"

"I don't know," said Giles. "As you said, there's a chance she could be sick. Slayers do have their enhanced healing abilities but it doesn't mean that they're immune to the common cold."

"You know how much I hate the common cold? All common and coldy. Damn thing."

"You didn't answer the question," Willow said, giving the watcher an accusatory stare. "Come on, Giles, spill."

"The truth is, I don't know," he insisted. "I'll check in with the higher authorities, see if her mother did call her in ill. If not, I'll start to worry further."

"So you are already worrying?" asked Willow, looking alarmed. "Giles, what if she is dead?"

"We're boned and Dead-Boy kills us all slowly and painfully," Xander quipped. He didn't look like his heart was really in it though.

* * *

><p>"Okay, thanks," he said into the phone. "Yes, yes, that's very helpful. It looks like I'll be waiting a little longer to get those books back then."<p>

The way the line went dead told him that she didn't care about the depth behind the elaborate lie he had concocted.

"Bloody nuisance," Giles said, rolling his eyes. If he had found out anything, it was that Buffy definitely hadn't come to school today. Which meant she might not have gotten home the previous night. He could have called her house, but coming up with another excuse for doing so if her mother answered wasn't that easy.

Although, there was one other thing he could do.

He got to his feet, glanced around his office. With one hand, he grabbed up his jacket, with the other hand he drew a large knife from one of the drawers in the desk and slipped it into a pocket.

Always better to be safe. He wasn't intending to use the knife, couldn't see any reason why he might need it. It was broad daylight, there weren't likely to be any vampires around. But the vast majority of demons didn't need to operate under the cover of darkness.

He wasn't taking any chances.

* * *

><p>The cemetery looked different in the day, Giles thought, weaving his way through the headstones. Although, there wasn't really any need for him to have ever come during the day.<p>

Perish the thought that one day he might have to come to a funeral here. Hopefully it wouldn't be in the immediate future.

He knew that Buffy had been here the previous night, it had been agreed that she would. A few nights earlier, a woman had been killed, drained of blood and buried in this very graveyard. Suspicion had immediately fallen on Angelus, but nothing could be proven. The two of them had suspected she had been turned, Buffy had said she was going to try this place tonight in hope that the woman would rise.

Ahead of him, a stack of upturned earth proved him to be right, the brown stuff scattered around the grass disrupting the image of projected neatness given off by the row of grey teeth-like tombstones.

Whenever he did visit cemeteries, be it here or in England, he always found them to be peaceful places. No crowds, no people, no noise.

If there was any dust left over from the remains of the vampire, it had long since blown away. He glanced around; his mood picking up as he saw there wasn't any sign of a slayer lying in state. That was good at least.

* * *

><p>For the next forty minutes, he walked around, still hopeful that he would find something that would put his mind at rest one way or another.<p>

Nothing. At least, nothing until…

His shoe clattering against something, Giles looked down to see a very familiar looking weapon against the grass, a wooden stake. Fresh worry flashed through him as he bent down to pick it up. Examining it, turning it over and over in his hand, he could confirm that it was very likely it had been used by Buffy.

He adjusted his glasses, taking a closer look at the weapon. Something caught his attention, something out of place. Scattered loosely across the weapon, stuck to the shaft, was a fine purple powder.

Some of it had caught on his fingers; he brought them up to his nose to take a quick smell of the stuff. Inhaling a bit of it, Giles immediately wondered why the smell was so familiar, what was it? He knew there was something there he recognised, but it was locked away, elusive from him.

If it hadn't been time to do so before, now was probably the time to start worrying. A little bit at least, anyway.

He needed to do some research, find out what the powder was. Maybe then he could work out what had happened to the slayer.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**Well, that's another one. Bit more mysterious, nothing really in regards to answers, but hey, hope you enjoyed it.**

**Thanks for reading and for the review.**


	3. Chapter 3

There was only so much pacing up and down she could do before getting bored. Plus, this crypt above oblivion wasn't the biggest, ten strides and she had crossed the length of it.

And she was getting bored.

Slayer. Boredom. Bad combination, she thought, glancing around. What might I rather be doing right now? Math? Chemistry? English?

High school or being trapped here, such a tough choice. Then again, at least in high school she knew where she stood. Here, she was lost on her own, no idea how to get home. How long had she been here? Was it just hours, or had it been days?

Groaning, she slumped down to the floor, crossing her legs beneath her before resting her head in her hands. It was only just starting to hit her exactly how bad things were for her at this moment in time.

A lone beetle skittered across the floor in front of her, before stopping to taste the air with its feelers.

"Least I'm not alone," she muttered, looking down at the black insect. "Could be worse…"

Almost as if it wanted to cut her off, the beetle exploded, its entire body shrivelling up and dispersing into a thin plume of smoke.

"What the… That's not natural."

Then again, she was a vampire slayer. Natural didn't cover most of what she did, it was an unwritten law. Her interest piqued though as her eyes followed the plume of smoke up through the air, watching it weave its way through the slowly staling atmosphere towards the coffin in the middle of the room.

Was it doing that naturally? Or was it just her imagination; was it just a coincidence that it blew in that direction?

Answering her question, it began to dip down, expanding out across the stone surface of the tomb slowly and surely until the fog covered the entire area of the coffin.

For once, Buffy was speechless as the fog suddenly began to vanish, almost being sucked in through the cracks between the lid and the main body of stone. Whatever it was, it was starting to worry her. Despite everything she did see in her calling, this wasn't something that she could explain.

And then the lid started to move.

She watched in anticipation as the coffin slid open, half curious half scared as to what might be inside. Maybe it would be empty.

The process of opening took several minutes; at least she thought it was that amount of time. It could have been longer, she didn't know.

Finally, the lid slid back and crashed down to the ground, stone grinding against stone with a terrific crash.

Curiosity got the better of her and she moved forward, almost perversely interested in finding out what was inside. It had occurred to her that it could well be something bad waiting for her in there, but she wasn't too worried. She was almost hoping it was something bad and evil; she could do with whaling on something to take out her frustrations at being trapped here.

She was immediately surprised by what did await her, what lay inside the confines of the stone casket. She saw the eyes, and within them, the light of humanity, no trace of the savage beast that she knew him to currently be. But, that was impossible, wasn't it?

"Buffy," said Angel, his voice weak but happy. "It's you!"

* * *

><p>Predictably, the final bell of the school day had rung and barely minutes later, they'd started to file into the library, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia, all looking less than enthusiastic.<p>

Cordelia especially.

"I'm not saying that we should be worried," she was saying. "I mean, Buffy's the slayer. Surely she can take care of herself and go all Terminator on anything that tries to kill her."

"Not as simple as that, Cor," Xander replied. "There's hundreds of things out there, just one of her. Remember?"

"Quiet," Giles said, more an order than a request as he walked out of his office reading one of his books. Magickal Powders and Potions by William Deeproot, a copy he had owned and retained in his personal collection ever since his very early days as a Watcher. "I'm almost onto something here."

"Oh thank God," Willow replied. "What you got, Giles? Anything useful."  
>Snapping the book shut, the Watcher removed the stake from the inside of his jacket and dropped it down on the table in front of them. "What do you think of that?" he asked, looking around at them.<p>

"Wicked pointy," Cordelia replied. "Not getting you, Giles."

Surprisingly, it was Oz who spoke up next, reaching out to poke the stake with a finger, looking at the purple residue that came away on the tip of his skin. "Funky," the guitarist remarked. "This stuff?"

"Exactly," said Giles. "I found that stake in the cemetery earlier today, the very one where we last knew Buffy to be. There's nothing to say that it is hers, but there's nothing to say that it isn't either. And, how many others in this town would use stakes in the cemetery? Process of elimination. Then there's that powder."

"What is that powder?" Xander wondered, mirroring what Oz had done earlier. "What's it smell like?"

"Xander, don't smell the Calynthia powder," Giles warned.

"Why, is it poisonous?"

"No, it's just incredibly stupid to smell something you know absolutely nothing about."

"That's Xander for you," Cordelia remarked, scathingly. "Jump in feet first and to hell with the consequences."

"Thanks Cordy, I like you too," he replied, just as sarcastically. "Means so much more hearing it come from you than a total stranger."

"You guys!" Willow scolded, rounding on the two of them. "Giles looks like he has something important to say. You do have something important to say, right?"

"What is Calpurnia powder anyway?" wondered Oz. "Some sort of purple cough medicine?"

"Not exactly," Giles said, resting on the edge of the table. "Calynthia powder is a strange substance; it's used as a sleeping aide. If it's ingested, willingly or otherwise, while the user is sleeping, they're not going to wake up on their own. You keep supplying them with it, you can keep someone under indefinitely."

"So, someone got the drop on Buffy and made her sleep?" Cordelia asked, surprised. "That's the worst plan ever."

"Actually, it's the greatest plan ever," pointed out Oz. "Sleeping slayer, can't attack or defend herself."

"Thank God, he's hit the nail on the head," said Giles. "Now, the question we need to ask is what might want to put the slayer to sleep and why they'd want to keep her that way."

"Aren't there dream demons, Giles?" wondered Xander. "Big old boogeymen?"  
>"Don't think Buffy needs to dream about boogeymen," said Willow. "What are we going to do?"<p>

"Xander is half right," Giles said. "There are dream demons, but there's nothing to say that invading the dreams of a slayer would be a benefit to them. Quite the opposite actually, slayer dreams are much more potent than the dreams of regular humans. A dream demon consumes that, it'll get sick. So, I can't think that's the answer."

He sighed.

"Plus, if there were dream demons in Sunnydale, we'd know about it by now."

"So, it's something new?" Cordelia asked. "Darn, don't we have enough to put up with without more ickies coming into town?"

"Apparently not," said Xander. "Want me to go and beat up Willy the Snitch? See if he's heard anything?"

"No, I forbid you to do that," said Giles quickly. He straightened himself up, stretching his arms. "It makes sense though, if anyone has heard anything about new demon arrivals in Sunnydale, it'll be that devious little homunculus."

"That what?" wondered Cordelia.

"It's a British word," offered Willow. "I think."

"Regardless of whether he has information or not, I think it's worth paying him a visit," said Giles. "I'll go talk to him. The rest of you stay here, see what you can dig up on anything that might benefit from putting a slayer to sleep."

"That narrows it down a bit," Cordelia said sarcastically. "Where to start?"

"Well, you could go alphabetically, you could start by looking at dream demons, move onto soul eaters, those that live off the very worst of conscious thought, you could use the Watcher Index…" Giles said, ticking the items off on his fingers as he spoke. "You could even use that infernal box to 'surf the net'."

He broke away from ticking them off to make sarcastic air quotes above the last three words.

"Ooh, I'll do that," said Willow, getting up to move over towards the computer. "Know any good websites about demons?"

"You think there's a really lame one called Demons, Demons, Demons?" asked Cordelia. "Because, that'd just be incredibly helpful."

"I'll check it out," Willow said. "You never know."

Rolling his eyes, Giles grabbed his overcoat and headed for the exit. "Lord knows what demon fighting's going to come to in the twenty first century," he muttered, angrily.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**Yep, there's the third part.**

**Hope you enjoyed it.**

**Random bit of trivia, the Calynthia powder was what Darla used in the second series of Angel to keep Angel asleep while she was paying nightly visits to him. **

**Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

Willy's bar looked exactly the same as it always did, dark, dank and full of demons. Well, Giles thought as the door slammed shut behind him, there weren't that many demons in here at the moment. A few were dotted around the room, two of them playing pool, while others just enjoyed their drinks.

He gave them a wide berth, hoping that if he didn't aggravate them, they wouldn't decide he was an easy target and try anything stupid. Giles wasn't scared of them, but pissing them off probably wasn't the smartest thing he could do.

Some of them gave him strange looks, but none of them really moved to bother him as he moved across the floor towards the bar, the Hawaiian shirted figure of Willy the Snitch stood behind it, cleaning a glass with a less-than-clean bar rag. As the Watcher moved to sit down, he gave him only the barest hint of a nod, an acknowledgement, nothing more.

Only when he had settled down did Willy move across to serve him.

"Evenin' pal," he said, cordially. "What can I do you for?"

"Whisky," Giles replied. "On the rocks."

The Snitch nodded, already plucking a glass out from below the bar, lazily tossing two ice cubes into it with a dry clink. Then came the whiskey, the light brown liquid washing over the twin blocks of ice.

"That all?" he asked. "Everything?"

"Well, there is one more thing," Giles said, picking up the glass to take a swallow of the drink. "Information, Willy."

"In-In-Information?" he asked, nervously. "What makes you think that I know anything? I'm just a simple barman."

"And I'm the third Lord of Tottenham," Giles replied, sarcastically. He took another drink. "I think you give yourself too little credit, Willy."

"Well, it's not easy y'know," the barman replied. "But trust me; I don't know nothing about no plot."

"Plot?" Giles asked, raising an eyebrow. "There's a plot?"

"Believe me, I don't know about no plot. But, there must be something going down or we wouldn't get your fine self in here. At least you're not beating me up, that's what normally happens. Be it the slayer, or a vampire, or a demon. Nobody ever helps me out! Am I really that despised here?"

"Probably because you've tattled on each and every one of them at some point," Giles replied. "Makes everyone a little unwilling to help you out if someone decides to bash your head on the bar."

"Yeah," Willy laughed. "Good thing there's nobody in tonight who might do that. Ever since that Angel went rogue, nobody's beaten me up."

"I'm going to ask you a question and I really hope you give me an honest answer. Calynthia powder. What do you know about it?"

"Good seasoning," Willy said, suppressing a laugh. "I mean, you put it on burgers, put it on dogs, it gives the stuff a real kick."

"When you say dogs, I hope you don't mean actual…" Giles glanced around at the demons in the bar, everyone suddenly focused on watching him and Willy. "Never mind. You know if anyone's been buying it lately?"

"Lot of people have sleeping problems, man," Willy replied. "I mean, it's a common thing. You get under the covers, can't get to sleep, what can you do?"

Giles finished his drink, swallowing the last of the whisky down. "I'm going to make a suggestion. Either you stop circling around and avoiding the question, or I'm going to break this glass over your skull. I'm giving you fair warning in a hope to avoid violence. That's not what I want."

"Bust his head open, man!" a demon called. "See if it has candy in it."

"What am I, a piñata?" Willy shot back, before turning back to Giles, the nervous grin expanding by the second. "Ah, I hear things here, y'know. And I happen to see that there was a dealer in here a few nights ago. Guy named Hilkio, he's no longer here, if you want to know about the powder, he's probably not the guy you want to talk to. The real cat who you probably want to know about is the guy who was buying Calynthia powder up. Couple of boxes."

"Hmmm," Giles said. "This demon have a name?"

"Ah, he was a… I don't remember what species he was, but I know his name," Willy replied, putting on a great impression that he was deep in thought. "He had a name… Ah, what was it?"

Another of the demons in the room had come to the bar, a blue skinned humanoid with red hair and golden horns protruding from his forehead, most of his body masked by canary coloured robes.

"Hey, for what it's worth, laddies," he said, a Scottish accent coming from him. "I remember the guy. He was a Dreven Demon, real bad news if you want my opinion."

"Dreven Demon?" Giles asked. "I'm not familiar with that race. Can you tell me anything about them, or…"

"Nah, sorry laddie," the demon replied. "They're a very private race; don't see much of them unless they're on the warpath. An' believe me, this guy was. Beefed up laddie, focused as they get. All I gots was his name. Daa. That's who he was."

"Ah, thanks," Giles said, managing to give the demon a weak grin. "You've been helpful. Willy, a drink for him if you please? Put it on my tab."

"Ach, thanks man," said the demon, clapping him on the shoulder. "Good one pal, good one. Hey, if you or the slayer can rough up Daa, you'll hear no complaints from me."

The Watcher was already on his way out, having placed some dollar bills down on the bar, leaving just Willy and the demon alone.

"Yak's urine and gin," said the demon, smiling at Willy. "Any time soon would be nice."

"So, what you got against Daa?" the barman wondered. "Thought all you demons were supposed to stick together and be all touchy feely, all that crap?"

"Bah, he hustled me at pool, laddie. Hope he gets hacked up into little pieces and eaten by Bakemono."

* * *

><p>"Buffy."<p>

Angel repeated her name, his voice growing stronger by the second. Before, he had been blurry around the edges, his skin paler than she had remembered. But, was it Angel? She thought it was, it looked like him and sounded like him. He acted like him, but was it just a trick?

"Angel?"  
>"It's me," he said, softly. "I'm back, I'm me again."<p>

She could only stand there and watch, dumbstruck, as his big soulful eyes gazed at her for a moment before pulling away in shame.

"I can't," he said, looking down to his feet. "Can't look at you knowing what I am and what I did."

"What you…?" she started to ask, before he cut her off.

"I can't bear you to look at me like the killer I am," he whispered. "I can't come to terms with what I am, I don't expect you to. What you saw with Angelus, that's who I really am, under the surface. As much as I want to, I can't keep him suppressed. He's always there, driving me to do things, things I don't want to do. Whenever I'm with you, I hear him screaming at me to rip out your throat!"

Spatters of something wet hit the ground at his feet.

"And the worst part is," he finished, pathetically. "The worst part is that some of me wants to go along with him. Just to shut him up, anything to keep him quiet."

"Angel…" she started to say, reaching out to touch him on the shoulder, only for him to flinch away from her. "Angel, I don't care!"  
>"How can you not?" he demanded, a brief flare of anger rising through the ocean of sorrow, guilt and self-pity. "Buffy, you're a good person, better than I could ever be, even if I live for another thousand years. You think I can't see what you really think? I'm a monster, I used to like being one, but now I just want it all to be over."<p>

She reached out to touch him again, this time letting him slap her hand away. It was a stinging blow but she didn't feel it. Instead, she again went back for him, resting her hand on his arm. He tried to shrug her away but she held on tight, increasing her grip around his iron-like muscles.

"Angel, don't push me away." It was her turn to whisper. "I don't care what you are. You think you're a monster, that's who you used to be. I believe in you, I believe you're a better man than you give yourself kudos for."

All while she spoke, he seemed intent on evading eye contact, forcing her instead to try and keep her own eyes locked on his as he jerked his head around in an attempt to avoid looking at her.

"And that's the man I fell in love with," she said. "The man I do still love, even though I know about you. And for what it's worth…"

He'd stopped moving his head now, even though he wasn't looking at her, he wasn't trying to not look at her.

"… I forgive you. For what Angelus tried to do to me and my friends, I give you my forgiveness. You're not him, Angel and I know the difference."

She had to stretch up onto the balls of her feet, but she was just about tall enough now to look him face to face.

"I forgive you."

"It's…" he started to whisper. "It's not that easy. Nothing's that easy, it doesn't matter whether you do or not."

More tears began to trickle down the vampire's cheek, Buffy's pity for him growing evermore by the second.

"I can't forgive myself!"

His face was that of a broken man, something positively heart-breaking on the face of someone she cared so much for. And she couldn't help herself.

She kissed him. And for a moment, he resisted her. Only for a moment though and then he was returning the gesture, the two of them losing themselves in the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**Another piece of the puzzle goes down.**

**And things take a slightly… tender turn. Angel might be a bit out of character, but there is a reason for that. Whatever that could be.**

**This is probably over half-way through by now, not sure, but there's not that much left I don't think. Maybe another two, I don't know.**

**Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this.**


	5. Chapter 5

The four students were still where he had left them before going off to Willy's Place, all sat diligently doing the job that he had asked them to do.

At least, most of them were.

"I mean, this is just bogus," Cordelia complained. "Even if we happen across the right demon, how will we know? It's not like there's going to be an arrow pointing down at it saying 'Here lies the evil creepy, go find him and axe him in the head. Or wherever."

"That's why you have to research carefully," Willow said, primly. "If care's in your vocab."

"Bite me," Cordelia shot back. "I've got plans tonight, I'm just killing time here."

Oz looked over at Xander who shrugged. "What?"

"Thought being a couple was supposed to mellow you out," the guitarist remarked, grinning. "Apparently not."  
>"Do not even go there," Cordelia said, glaring at both of them. "You're not help…"<br>"We have anything?" Giles interrupted, forcing his way into the conversation by coming over to where they sat at the table. "Did you find anything?"

"We're not sure where to look," Willow admitted. "We've narrowed a few things down about demons that might…"

"No need to continue," he said. "I spoke to Willy, the link with Calynthia powder ends with a Dreven demon named Daa. I'll just need to…"  
>"Dreven demon?" asked Cordelia, her eyes lighting up. "I found something on them earlier, ugly critters they are."<p>

"Show me," the Watcher said, moving over towards her. "Let me see that."

He watched as Cordelia picked up the book and began to thumb through the age-worn pages. Slowly, she turned them, peering down into them to check the contents before moving on.

"Didn't you bookmark it?" Xander wondered. "Time's an issue."  
>"Hey, don't get snippy with me!" she snapped, slamming the book down in front of her. "I'm working as fast as I can; it's not easy rifling through these things. Like trying to read scribbles."<p>

"Most of the books are in English," Giles pointed out, stretching out a hand to pick up the book she had just slammed down into the table. Part of the cover had torn, but he ignored it. For the moment, he was going to anyway. "Now let me see…"

A few minutes passed as he thumbed through the pages of the book, scanning for any trace of either Dreven demons or the figure known as Daa. He could feel the eyes of the teenagers upon him as he did so, none of them even working any more.

And finally, he came across it, a relieved smile passing across his face as he found the passage.

"Here we go," the Watcher announced. "Dreven demons, a species of demon originating from South America, mainly Argentina, some Chile, some sightings in Brazil. It's unusual to get them this far north then, I'd imagine. A species of demon who have the power to absorb the life force of a victim through their dreams, using that life force to make themselves stronger."

"So presumably that's why the Freddy Krueger wannabe grabbed Buffy," said Xander. "She's more than human, so presumably it's a bigger pick-me-up than a regular guy off the street."

"Yes," Giles said, thoughtfully. "Although…"

"Although what?" Willow wondered. "There's an although? Why does there have to be an although?"

"There may be something else in it, not just sustenance," Giles replied. "The force of the vampire slayer is something not just confined to one girl, it's not just confined to Buffy."

"No, there's Kendra as well," Xander offered, trying to be helpful.

"Xander, don't interrupt," Giles replied. "It's not helping. Ignore Kendra, take her out of the equation for a moment. It's not just confined to Buffy, that power is connected out to every potential slayer in existence. Not sure if you know this, but occasionally, a slayer will have prophetic dreams, another link back to the mystical source that empowered them in the first place. If this Dreven demon manages to tap into that phase of her mind, he could, in theory, absorb the entire force of the slayer into his body. That would make him unstoppable, the chances of another slayer being called would be minimal and the world as we know it would undoubtedly fall into chaos."

"Wow," Oz said. "That's really not good."

"And, the understatement of the year goes to Daniel Osborne," Xander quipped. "Who you going to thank first when you accept the award."

"God, my family, my friends," Oz said, shrugging. "Not sure yet, probably going to wing it."

"Good man," Xander replied. "Now, I guess…"

"Can the two of you get some perspective?" Giles demanded. "You're not helping. We need to find Daa right now and help Buffy before all hell breaks loose."  
>"Anything in your big dusty book about it?" Cordelia wondered, getting to her feet. "In the meantime, I'm bailing before the world ends. Got to tell people things."<p>

She stopped, bent down and kissed Xander, the teenager returning the gesture before watching her leave.

"That girl needs to gain some perspective," Giles muttered, angrily. "We've got problems and… Oh, here we go. Dreven demons live off… It says here that they eat cats. Not every part of the cat, just some of it."

"Ewww!" Willow exclaimed. "That's just… Urgh."  
>"And, I think…" Giles paused, putting the book down. Moving away from them, he vanished into his office, soon coming back out again with the newspaper he had been reading earlier in the day. "I know where Daa might be hiding. Summer Street, the bodies of mutilated cats have been showing up there."<p>

"Summer Street?" Oz asked. "You'd think he'd choose somewhere with a less cheery name to hide out."

"When we find him, you can ask him that," Giles said, already going towards the library cage, opening it up. "We're going over there now, we're going to force him to give up Buffy and if he doesn't, we'll kill him."

"Giles?" Willow asked. "What if we can't do that? What if he's too strong for us?"  
>"Then at least we can say we tried," Xander quipped. "Nobody can blame us when the world descends into A Nightmare on Elm Street."<p>

"Oh for pity's sake!" Giles exclaimed. "Can you stop making that joke! It wasn't funny the first time, it wasn't funny the second time. It's not a funny situation!"

He paused, regaining some slight composure.

"Now, with that in mind…"  
>He opened up a cupboard, revealing an array of weapons. "It's time to arm ourselves."<p>

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, the four of them made their way out of the high school, Giles carrying a sword, Willow and Oz both with crossbows, while Xander had an axe.<p>

"Can I just point out that I think this plan is insane?" Xander wondered. "I mean, what makes you think that it's going to work?"

Predictably, Giles ignored him as the four of them made their way towards Oz's van, the outline of the vehicle ahead of them in the car park of Sunnydale High School.

"I'm almost at the point of hoping I see this place again," Xander joked, glancing around at the main campus building. "Never thought I'd say that."

* * *

><p>The moment had evolved into another several moments, the slayer and the vampire still locked in their passionate embrace. Above her, Buffy could feel Angel's demeanour returning back to normal, the broken bundle of self-pity he had been earlier fading away into a bad memory. His strong hands on her body were reassuring as to the worst was behind them, their lips still locked together.<p>

She didn't know what had caused her to break away from his embrace. And then she realised, the taste of blood rife in her mouth. Her tongue was suddenly sore, an open cut bleeding out into her mouth.

"Buffy!" Angel said, smirking at her. All sense of his previous guise was gone, hidden behind the vampiric mask he now wore, the face of an angel contorted into that of a demon. "So glad to hear that you forgive me."

He licked his lips, lapping up the last of the blood that remained in the corners of his mouth. "That Angel really can be a whiny bastard, can't he? You like my impersonation of him? I do a better him than h does of me."  
>"What are you…?" She suddenly felt cold, a whole storm of chills washing over her body. "You mean, you're not Angel?"<p>

"Oh no, dear slayer," he replied, the smirk growing even wider. She could see the fangs hidden below the lips, one of them stained with her blood. "I'm the real McCoy. The one and only. Thought you'd have caught that by now."

She had done, yet she hadn't wanted to believe it. Now, there was no other option other than to accept he was who he said he was.

"Angelus!" she hissed.

"Bingo, Buff," he retorted. "Now die!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**Surprise!**

**Next one probably will be the last one. The final act.**

**And, there's another Buffy fic in the pipeline after this, although it's not a sequel, rather a request for something else.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Guess this is it then," Xander said, looking up at the ominous black building stood looming above them, no lights visible through the windows. "Moment of truth and all that guff."

"Xander," Giles replied, letting his head drop into his hands. "Much as we appreciate your efforts to raise moral, can you please not? It increases the feeling that we're all going to die."

"Thought you Brits were supposed to be all not bowing in the face of danger and never giving up?" Oz asked, glancing around from the driver's seat of his van. "Anyway, we going to do this?"

"No time like the present," Xander said. "Let's do it guys."

At that, they began to file out of the van, immediately heading into the building.

"Okay," Giles said, pushing the door to the apartment complex open. "We'll start at the bottom and work our way up."

* * *

><p>He punched her, the blow crashing hard into her face. In her anger, she barely felt it, moving to hit him back. She saw him visibly rocked by her attack, shaken by how hard the punch had been.<p>

It lasted only a few seconds. Angelus winked at her, his face momentarily returning back to that of Angel's human visage.

"But Buffy," he said, mockingly. "How can you beat me when I mean so much to you?"

"Shut up!" she snarled, already jumping up to hit him with a roundhouse kick, the blow meant to stagger him back. Instead, he ducked back and swept out a hand, grabbing her ankle in mid-air, hurling her round and towards one of the walls. Her face smashed into the stone, a massive cut opening up across her forehead.

"Yeah, that's the stuff," Angelus taunted, making a dramatic show of sniffing the air. "Slayer blood, smells so different to regular human blood. Like warm butterscotch on a hot summer's day."

She tried to get up, he sprang over and kicked her in the face, putting her down on her back again.

"Lie still, Buff," he chortled. "It's what you're good at after all. Got to say, considering the perfect happiness thing and all that, I've had better than what you gave me."

Revolted, she again tried to move, desperate to kick his legs out from underneath him. He jumped up, evading her attack before ducking down to yank her up by the throat.

"See, that's something that just doesn't make me happy, Buff," he said, cruelly. "Spike, the useless spawn of an insane bitch I sired has killed two slayers. Everyone remembers him for that, that and the really bad hair. Me, the scourge of Europe, I got none. I'm going to be remembered for falling in love with one. Shall we see what I can do to amend that situation?"

* * *

><p>"Well, that's lucky," Oz said, the four of them walking into the basement of the building. On a table in the middle of the room, was a certain vampire slayer, her eyes closed. She could have been dead, yet they saw her chest rise and fall gently. "We have a slayer."<p>

"So how do we wake her up?" wondered Willow. "Anyone got an alarm clock?"

"Calynthia powder does keep the taker asleep, but it doesn't mean the user can't be woken up if someone pushes hard enough," explained Giles, already walking into the room. "We must tread carefully…"

He was cut off by a figure charging into him from the side, the blow sending him flying through the air and smashing into the wall. With a groan, he slid down like a cartoon character, eventually coming to rest in an unconscious heap on the floor below.

"Tread more carefully," the figure warned, looking around to the Scoobies. He was a big hulking figure, with sickly yellow skin, the arms and chest mottled with dark blue spots. The eyes were white and watery, while a crown of huge horns the same colour as the eyes adorned his forehead. Both the hands and the feet ended in thick black claws. "You should not have come here."

"Let me guess," Xander said. "Daa, come on down."

"You came for the slayer?" the demon asked, glancing over towards the comatose Buffy. "Three children and that must be the Watcher. You cannot stop me. Even as we speak, I grow closer to absorbing the power of the slayer. As you stand here, she dreams and in that dream, she is soon going to die. When she does, I shall feast on the surge of power that leaves her cold, dead form and follow it back to the source."

He licked his lips, the tongue pink and dry.

"That shall be a banquet to sate me beyond belief."

"Kinda forgetting one thing," Xander retorted. "Buffy's our friend. We're not giving up on her."

He raised the axe and charged at Daa, the demon not looking impressed by the effort from him. As Xander swung it at him, Daa caught the highest part of the shaft and shoved him back, watching Xander trip back to the ground. The Dreven demon snapped the shaft into two pieces and tossed them both aside.

Both Willow and Oz raised their crossbows, the two of them letting their arrows fly through the air towards the demon. Both bolts struck him in the chest, yet Daa appeared not to be fazed by their impact. Howling in anger, he struck them from his body, wooden bolts falling to the ground, before charging at the two teenagers. He struck Willow in the face, sending her slamming into the ground. The redhead was knocked out immediately. Oz tried to throw a punch at Daa, the demon caught it in his fist and flipped the part-time werewolf down onto his back. Before he could recover, Daa kicked him in the face.

Xander had gotten back up, the part of the axe that held the head in his hand. He tried to hit the demon in the back with it, bringing it down with as much force as he could muster. Again, Daa turned just in time and stepped back to evade the blow. Before Xander could attack again, the demon hit him several times. The teenager sank to his knees, blood rushing from several cuts on his face.

Still annoyed at their intrusion, Daa raised a fist up, claws extended out. He was ready to finish off Xander…

… Only for a swathe of sarcastic applause to emerge out into the room, that sound mixed in with the barrage of sarcastic laughter. Both Daa and Xander looked around to see the source, Xander immediately groaning in frustration as he realised what had just happened. The night had just gotten infinitely worse.

"Got to hand it to you," Angelus smirked, leaning against the frame of the door. "You guys really make being pathetic into an art form."

* * *

><p>The fangs were out again, they were inches from her face. And, even with all her slayer strength, she couldn't shift his iron grip on her arms.<p>

Buffy really was trapped.

"Come on, Buff," Angelus taunted. "Cry for me. That's what makes it worth it."

Her eyes flared in anger, she opened her mouth to retort…

… And he bit down into her neck, serpent-like in the way he went for her, the fangs digging deep down through the skin. Already she could feel him lapping away like a hungry dog. Nausea, light-headedness, fever, she felt them all in those moments. It all added up to one thing, even in her weakening state, she knew that.

He was draining the life force from her.

* * *

><p>"You are not welcome here, vampire!" Daa snapped. "Leave, now!"<p>

"Quiet, Pele," Angelus retorted. "You know the rules just as well as I do. You're not human, I can just walk in here free as a daisy if I want to."

Daa's lips curled at that, but deep down, he knew that Angelus was right. He was powerless to prevent him from walking into the room.

"Got to hand it to you though," the vampire continued. "Doing what you're doing with the slayer, trying to drain her life force through her dreams. Must take fiendish concentration. I like that in a demon, so many of you are all action, no planning. It makes a change to get someone who's thought through every detail. Except one."

He paused, glaring at the demon. Daa glared back, looking like he wanted to rip Angelus' head off.

"That's my slayer," he said. "I'm going to kill her; I'm going to take credit for her death."

"Monster!" spat Xander. Daa hit him again, the sound of flesh splitting open filling the room.

"If you really want to hit him some more, feel free," Angelus said, rolling his eyes in disgust. "No skin off my nose. Him, I don't have a problem with you killing. Take them all, but touch the slayer and you'll wish she'd been awake to kill you."

"You think you scare me?" Daa demanded. "Fear me, I've slaughtered dozens throughout my life."

"You fear me," Angelus retorted. "I've killed thousands. You're some big shot in the favelas, I get that. You're in the big leagues now, once all of Europe feared me. Back away from the slayer now, or you'll find out why."

"I have worked too hard for this," Daa hissed. "I shall not back down. My first act with the power of the slayer behind me will be to do what she could not and remove your blight, vampire."

He went for Angelus, leaving Xander alone. Groaning, the teenager slumped to the ground, the pain in his face immense.

Daa was fast. Angelus might well have been faster. The Dreven swung out his claws, trying to impale the vampire upon them, yet Angelus managed to duck out of the way and kick him in the back. Unlike previous attacks from the Scoobies, Daa felt it, groaning in pain as he again tried to go for the vampire. Angelus punched him in the side of the face, Daa managed to get a retaliatory strike off and hit the vampire across the face. The two of them continued to trade blows with each other for a few minutes more, the demon and the vampire hitting each other with all their strength.

Away from where they fought, Xander managed to crawl up into a sitting position, wincing with every movement. Swallowing it down, he managed to get up fully, already making his way across to the prone Buffy on the table.

He slipped, again groaning as he came to rest on the table, her chest gently ascending and descending a few inches away from his eyes. Summoning up what little energy he had left, the beating really having taken it out of him, he brought his hand back and slapped the slayer across the face as hard as he could.

"Buffy!"

* * *

><p>Something was different. Angelus seemed... She didn't know what to think any more. What she knew was that his air of invincibility had fallen away, the cruel shows of strength no more. The difference between them had vanished, now he was just an ordinary albeit extraordinarily good looking vampire, and she was the slayer.<p>

She pushed, forcing him off her. In front of her, he bared his blood covered fangs, yet she didn't feel pain from the wound. Pressing her fingers against her neck, she realised there was no wound there anymore.

"Brand new Buffy," she quipped. "Better than ever. You're not going to beat me, you know why?"

The vampire slayer paused dramatically. "Because I'm the slayer. And you're toast."

She went for him with renewed vigour. And, unlike before, he couldn't defend against her barrage of attacks. Punches, kicks, elbows and even a head-butt left the vampire battered and bruised. Finally, she stopped her assault, seeing him stood there exhausted and beaten by her efforts.

"What's my name?" she demanded. "Come on, say my name."

"Bu…"

He started to say it, but she didn't let him finish. Springing up, she slammed her heel into his face with all the force she could manage, the blow hurling him away from her. Angelus hit the door to the crypt face first and went straight through it, the vampire vanishing away into the abyss far below wherever this place was.

"See you next fall," she quipped. "Enjoy your downtime."

* * *

><p>Daa had got a lucky hit in, his claws now sticking straight through Angelus' front and coming out the back. He wasn't dead, but it hurt.<p>

A lot.

Ignoring him, Daa withdrew his claws and let Angelus fall down to the ground, the vampire hissing with the pain as he dropped.

The Dreven turned back to look at Xander, still stood next to Buffy.

"Out of my way, boy!" he snapped, already striding towards the two of them. "My new world is about to…"

He never got the chance to finish. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Angelus rose back up, all the previous pain ignored and grabbed the demon from behind. Daa roared in anger and tried to break free, only for the vampire to hold strong.

"Your old world is about to come to an end," Angelus said, sarcastically. Revelling in the moment, he grabbed up towards Daa's head, tugging hard at something. The demon screamed in pain as a terrific snap rang out through the room, one of his horns coming off in Angelus' hand.

The screams were abruptly cut off as the vampire stabbed him in the throat. Repeatedly.

After multiple stabs, Angelus stepped back, apparently satisfied that Daa was dead. "Adios, pal."

With Daa's horn still in hand, he was already making his way towards the still unconscious Buffy, Xander moving to block him. The vampire didn't care, backhanding him aside with his free hand. As Xander hit the ground, Angelus loomed high above Buffy, the horn raised high like a stake. He brought it down…

… Only for her hand to rise up and catch his wrist mid-descent. Still his momentum took it down, forcing her to grab it with her other hand, that only just enough to stop it.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty is awake!" Angelus crowed. "You look so well rested, Buff. Then again, you always were a sound sleeper."

That remark alone was enough to force her into more action, Buffy swinging her leg up to kick him in the side of the head. Angelus swore as her heel tore a gash down the right side of his face, the blood running freely. However, it forced him back, allowing her the chance to sit up.

"Okay, that hurt!" he snapped, watching her slide off the table with hate-filled eyes. "You'll regret that."

"I regret a lot of things," she replied, coldly. "Get out of here, or dusting you won't be one of them."

He shrugged, the cruel smile still there on his face. "You know what, Barbie, you sure do talk tough for a pretty little blond thing. How fresh are you really though? All that sleeping…"

Angelus let his words hang, throwing himself at her rather than finishing his taunt. Without blinking, Buffy spun and kicked him back, watching the vampire crash land by the door.

"Think I'm good," she said, lightly. "All that rest, I feel damn good. You want to see just how refreshed I am? Right now, I feel like I could spend the next few hours working you over."

Next to the exit, Angelus stood up, his arms folded in front of him. "Okay, slayer," he growled. "Looks like you take this round. Till next time then, I guess. Just know I can't wait."

He blew a kiss towards her.

"You're welcome by the way," he said, jerking his head over to the unconscious Oz and Wilow. "Friends'd be dead if I hadn't followed them to find you. They live to die another day. And that day will come soon, slayer."

With that promise, he was gone, away up the stairs, leaving the Scooby Gang alone in the basement with the corpse of a demon.

* * *

><p>"So, yeah, that's how we worked it out," Willow said, the five of them in Oz's van retreating. "Even Cordelia helped and I never thought I'd say that."<p>

"When we discovered where you all were, we jumped into the mystery machine here," Xander said, patting the side of the van. "And came to save the day. At least, that was the plan."

"Yeah, I noticed that didn't exactly work out well for you," said Buffy. "But, thanks again guys. You really came through for me, if you hadn't done what you did, who knows what would have happened."

"The one thing I don't understand," Xander remarked. "Was it when I slapped you that woke you up from your dream?"

"More like a nightmare," Buffy said. "I don't know. I was there in the dream; Angelus was feeding from me…"

She paused, trying to think back to what had happened, before allowing a smile to flash across her face. "You know that feeling when you can't remember a dream you've just had?"

"Yeah?" Xander asked. "That situation?"

"Feels like it," the slayer answered. "He was feeding from me, and I suddenly felt something. It might have been you slapping me… Explain why you did that again?"

"Thought it'd be more effective than a heartfelt speech," said Xander. "Plus, I'd just had my ass kicked by a demon, so I wasn't thinking straight."

"Oh, okay then," replied Buffy. "Well, I felt something surge through my entire body and… It was like a revelation. I'm the slayer, why am I putting up with it? So I kicked his ass and woke up."

"It's like a really twisted Disney tale," Willow said. "Only there wasn't any kissing or marriage."

"Not even in your dream?" Oz wondered, looking at Buffy in the rear-view mirror.

"Not even in my dream," she confirmed. "Sorry."

The van pulled to a halt, stopping outside Buffy's house on Revello Drive, the lights on in the Summers residence. Looking out of the window, Buffy saw her mother in the living room, chatting animatedly on the phone.

"Guess my trials are only just starting," she groaned. "Time to go face the music."

"You ever thought about telling your mom the truth?" Xander asked. "Might save the awkward screaming moments that you're probably going to get now."

"Actually, I haven't," said Buffy. "Three reasons. Demons, vampires, the forces of darkness. She'd freak out worse than she's going to when I walk in."

"Best get your excuses ready, Buffy," Willow said, apologetically. "Good luck."

The slayer nodded, smiling around at all of them. "Thanks again for the help, guys."

Pushing the back doors of the van open, she got out, slamming them shut behind her. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, Oz accelerated away, leaving her alone in the dark street.

"No time like the present," she muttered, already dreading going inside. "But here goes nothing."

She started to walk.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes.<strong>

**That's it. The end.**

**So yeah, hope you enjoyed it. I've enjoyed writing it, and there's another Buffy fic in me, which I will try to get up by the end of the week.**

**Thanks for reading, thanks for the reviews.**


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